library anxiety

I always feel rather accomplished upon finishing a book. Even if its meant reading instead of school work, cleaning the apartment, etc. I also get to add a new entry to my “books I’ve read” spreadsheet, something I’ve maintained for about 8 years. Doesn’t everyone do that?

I’m always surprised by the number of people I’ve met who claim to be completely repelled by fiction, saying things such as “I love to read, but I can’t stand fiction…I’d rather read something ‘real’ “. I think the best part about leisure reading is just that…read whatever the hell you want. I personally subscribe to a nice mix of fiction, poetry, philosophy, cookbooks, professional development literature and occasionally something about science.

I just finish Kafka’s The Trial, and while reading the introduction, was excited to see a reference to Dickens’ Bleak House. I thought, I’ve read Bleak House. It was a horrible February in 2004, and I never thought that I’d make it through, but approximately 1000 pages later, yes, it was finished. I know that it’s a fact that will never impress anyone, but it’s also nice to feel some sense of justification for spending your time with a certain book.

Most of the time, I feel horribly inadequate thinking that I’ve barely scratched the surface of the literary world. So then I just start reading again.